Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheBrian Gardel ยท Dec 25, 2013
Weather
Sunny and clear. No wind. Temps in the teens to lower 20's.
Snowpack
Snowpack depth in the Little Agnes/Diamond Park area varies from shallow and punchy down low in the drainage, to approx. 150cm at treeline (on Westerly aspects). New snow depth from the recent storm cycle settled to approx. 60cm. Hasty pits on Westerly aspect @ 10,500ft revealed a 1/2 centimeter ice crust that's now buried approximately 85cm from the surface. Stability tests failed below this ice crust with clean shear, though our scores ranged from easy to hard across several columns. While touring, we hear lots of loud and deep whoompfs (no cracking), and observed lots of signs of recent activity.
Avalanche
Saw five small-to-large avalanches off Little Agnes and the Sawtooth Range. Starting zones for all these slides were all at, or below, treeline, on N, SE, and SW aspects, at approximately 10,500ft. Crown depths ranged in sizes, up to approx. 4ft deep. All appeared to be naturals that ran sometime over the last 24-48hrs.